The Dragon and the Tiger
by livyyellow
Summary: All Nathaniel had wanted to do was come out to his family. What he absolutely did not want was for his dad to get akumatized in the process and become absorbed in keeping Marc as far away from him as possible. With Ladybug and Chat Noir's allies gone, Ladybug might just have to turn to Nathaniel and Marc for assistance in defeating Paris' newest villain.
1. Nathaniel's Dilemma

**A/N: This story will contain minor spoilers for the episode Mayura/Hero's Day Part 2**

* * *

 _From: Nathaniel_

 _To: Marc_

 _Sent: 14:21_

 _Okay I'm gonna tell them I'm questioning. Maybe not that I'm bi or pan, but just that I'm not straight. I can't stand some of their comments any more, breathing down my neck about girls._

 _From: Marc_

 _To: Nathaniel_

 _Sent: 14:26_

 _Good luck. Let me know how it goes_

The little heart at the end of Marc's last message was almost enough for Nathaniel to want to throw himself in bed and just enjoy the thought of it, rather than march into the kitchen and tell his parents he was at the very least bisexual or pansexual; certainly not heterosexual.

It was still warm out, as autumn was slow to creep into Paris causing Nathaniel to discard his jacket the moment he got into his bedroom, but now that he was up and walking towards the kitchen, he wished he kept it on for something to fidget with. His mother was washing down the table with her red hair pulled back into a messy bun, as she had been sculpting pottery for most of the day, and his father was hunched over at their little desk nook under the stairs, his head resting in his hand.

Nathaniel cleared his throat. "Uh, mom, dad? Can I talk to you both about something real quick? It's important."

"Sure, what's up?" His mom asked, a bit of murky water still stuck to her cheek from her pottery. His father turned around wordlessly to glance at him. Nathaniel's heart was pounding in his chest and his breathing felt shallow, but he pushed forward. "Um. I—I just wanted to tell you both that I think—I mean, that I like men and women. You know. I'm attracted to men, women, anyone really. Not just girls. I just didn't—uh, want you thinking I was straight because I'm not."

A silence stretched after this declaration, which was finally broken by Nathaniel's mom squeaking and rushing over to him, pulling him into a hug with misty eyes. "Thank you for telling us, Nath," she said, and Nathaniel leaned into her embrace as if it could hold back all the horrors of the world itself, and all at once his heart rate plummeted back into the normal range. "You know I'll always love you, right?"

When his mother pulled away and gave Nathaniel the space to nod in return, his dad said something which made Nathaniel's nerves spike all over again. "Well…so long as you mostly like girls, if you know what I mean."

"What?"

His dad shuffled uncomfortably in his chair and stood up, raking a hand through gray speckled dark hair. "You said you're—erm—you like men and women. But that means you still could end up with a girl, right?"

Nathaniel's throat constricted. "Well, I guess. But—but, uh, I wanted to say something else. You both know Marc? I invite him over all the time of course you know Marc. Well, I—I—wanna ask him out, and I was hoping you both could give me some advice."

His father let out a heavy sigh which felt more like a kick to the stomach than a mere sound alone. He then muttered under his breath, clutching tightly at a paper from his desk and waving it around for a moment. "First I got fired at work and now I find out there's something wrong with my son-"

Nathaniel's mom whirled on him. "There's nothing wrong with our son-"

But now it seemed that the dam had burst, and Nathaniel's dad continued, causing him to back up a step until he ran into the refrigerator. "Course there is! He'll be made fun of for being weird! I want him safe, how can he be safe if he can't even like women-"

His father shoved the now crumpled paper into his pocket and his mother approached him with narrowed eyes. "Wait you said you got _fired?_ Mathis! Without your job we won't be able to afford rent!"

"Not with your job as a sculptor, we sure can't!" His father retorted. Wordlessly, his mother slammed a dirty rag against the table with unnecessary force that made Nathaniel wince. "It doesn't matter Camille, our son's a-" Whatever Mathis was about to say, Nathaniel's mother interrupted him, but Nathaniel already deflated.

"Don't you dare finish that sentence!"

"You know what? I need a break. That's what I need!"

His mother yelled after him, but Nathaniel's dad had already stormed up the stairs, and the sound of the balcony door slamming shut could be heard behind him. Nathaniel heard some faint buzzing in his ears as he fought to regain his breathing. He then flung himself up the stairs and after his dad two steps at a time. He took the hall all the way down past his and his parents' bedroom and stopped at the curtained double doors that led onto the patio, which was left cracked open. Nathaniel knelt, the events from before finally catching up to him to the point that his eyes burned and he raked a hand across them, momentarily pushing his flaming hair out of his face and keeping his cool palms pressed against his forehead in an effort to calm himself before he could start shaking.

But then he heard a panicked voice outside. "Wait—no—no!"

Nathaniel had glanced out the window just in time to see a flicker of a purple butterfly's wings, and he was positively frozen in place as the daunting amethyst glow surrounded his father's eyes before a similarly colored cloud engulfed him. Nathaniel then peeled himself away from the window and slammed his body against the wall of the hallway, his knees pulled up to his chest in an effort to make himself as small as possible. Nathaniel shakily reached for his phone and texted Marc with a trembling, numb hand.

* * *

Mathis Kurtzberg leaned heavily against the railing of their patio, a million and two thoughts swirling around in his mind, entirely overwhelming him. First he was fired at a job he enjoyed, then their last bill was late, and now _this._ He loved his son. This was just _not his day,_ as far as Mathis was concerned.

He was so wrapped up in his own thoughts, he did not see Hawk Moth's little butterfly until it was nearly on top of him, and no amount of exclamations as he swatted at it could make it go away. Rather it sunk into his employment termination notice in his pocket, and Mathis stiffened as an unknown voice, judgement, and force took over not only his mind, but his thoughts and actions, as well.

A deep, velvet tone spoke to him. _Hoverer, you'd rather have what's best for your wife and son for fear that society may see them as outsiders. Well I'll give you the chance to keep them safe, you just have to do a little something for me, first. Get Ladybug and Chat Noir's Miraculous._

"Yes, Hawk Moth. But first I'm keeping this Marc as far away from my son. The more civilians I endanger the faster Ladybug and Chat Noir will arrive."

Nathaniel's father was gone, in his place was Hoverer, a tall, barrel chested man clad in an angular jumpsuit with various belts hanging off his person and sharp shoulder pads pointed upwards unevenly. Half of him was painted a navy blue, the other half an emerald green. A baton hung from one of his belts at his side, and as soon as he leapt into the air a circular platform appeared beneath his feet. Blades akin to a helicopter sat beneath the platform, keeping it afloat, and the sound whipped in his ears as he sped off, flying from the patio and shooting through the sky. He was gone so quickly he could not hear the sound of his son screaming after him, nor did he see Nathaniel desperately throwing himself down the stairs with the intent to follow him.

* * *

 **A/N: Hello and thanks for reading! I should be able to update this fairly regularly since I have a few chapters written due to the chapters being rather short, so look forward to that, as I'm excited to get this story under way! I absolutely adore Nathaniel and Marc despite there not being a ton of stories with them on fanfiction. Hopefully that'll change eventually.**


	2. Lack of Safety in Numbers

By the time Nathaniel made it onto the street, he could tell that Hoverer had done some damage. He just managed to see the man swoop down behind a woman in her mid forties and put both hands on either of her shoulders, she shook for a moment and glowed blue and green, before her color scheme shifted to match that of Hoverer's, and she, too, was able to fly due to a similar platform under her feet. It was like Reflekta all over again, Nathaniel realized. It was this style of attack that always made him the most anxious, because as much as Chat Noir and Ladybug could fight, and fight well, he knew there was strength in numbers. Due to his comics he had spent probably much longer than he should have watching the Lady Blog and scrounging up news footage of fights so that he could see exactly how the superheros moved and strategized for the sake of keeping his and Marc's comic authentic, and these attacks were tricky. Not only did they have to be concerned about themselves, but the mass amount of civilians, too. These civilians merely had spinning, extremely sharp weapons attached to their feet. Nathaniel imagined getting too close to those helicopter blades could spell disaster, and so he ducked into a narrow alley between two buildings and continued. Every step sent shock waves through his feet and he was sure he was about to have a heart attack with how much it was pounding in his chest, but he had to get to Marc's apartment.

As if on cue, his phone buzzed, and Nathaniel skidded to a stop to read the message and rapidly reply.

 _To: Nathaniel_

 _From: Marc_

 _Sent: 14:48_

 _It went poorly? Nath I am sorry. Can I do anything to help?_

 _To: Marc_

 _From: Nathaniel_

 _Sent: 14:49_

 _Get out of your house and hide my dad's been akumatized and I think he's going after you_

 _To: Nathaniel_

 _From: Marc_

 _Sent: 14:49_

 _What? You can't be serious_

 _To: Nathaniel_

 _From: Marc_

 _Sent: 14:50_

 _Nathaniel please tell me this is some bad joke_

Despite his wish to call Marc and explain in finite detail what had transpired, Nathaniel did not have the time to say any more before he took off running again, inwardly sighing as his phone buzzed once more, and hoping that the other boy merely took his warning seriously. After all, this was seldom something he, or most of the people in Paris, even, joked about. So, he kept running. He knew Marc's place was about a mile away from his, but was not about to risk taking the subway where he could so easily run into Hoverer and become trapped. As soon as he reached the mouth of the alley he already saw at least ten transformed helicopter parents flying about, trying to grab onto others and transform them, too. It seemed, however, that anyone who was not a parents or at least did not look old enough to be one, was not affected, and with that in mind Nathaniel threw some more of his caution to the wind as he took off at a faster pace.

He reached Marc's place in under ten minutes, inwardly cursing his hatred of anything athletic as he fought to catch his breath from running, The building was familiar, as Marc's apartment was rather small and nestled above a record store and café. On a few occasions Marc had apologized for it not being as nice as Nathaniel's, but Nathaniel had been quick to brush these concerns off. It hardly mattered, and the coffee downstairs was amazing. But now something stood out in stark contrast to the ecru toned structure which towered four stories high. A window on the second story was smashed, and Nathaniel's breath hitched in concern. Before his mind could get ahead of himself, however, another movement out of the corner of his eye snatched his attention and he turned. He spotted a flash of a rainbow shirt clambering down the fire escape. Marc landed roughly on the ground after hoping down, wincing, before getting to his feet and nearly sprinting the opposite direction until Nathaniel latched onto his arm and pushed him behind the dumpster.

Marc, however, screamed and pulled away, before Nathaniel could hush him, guilt flooding his mind until Marc stilled. "It's me!" Nathaniel hissed, lowering himself into a kneeling position which Marc quickly copied. "I'm sorry."

It took Marc many moments to evidently be able to form words, but his mossy eyes remained wide and he worried his lip as he spoke. "It's—it's—oh. Nath, you scared me. It's—my mom's been turned into one of Hoverer's helicopter parents. Hoverer crashed into our living room and tried to grab me but I got out. I don't know where he is now."

Nathaniel muttered a curse, something he typically tried to refrain from, but the doubt of this being all his fault began to creep in. If he hadn't made his dad mad then all of this would not have happened. Nathaniel knew he had to come out at some point and was not about to hide who he was, but the worry still clawed at his mind. "We have to hide," he grabbed Marc by the wrist and kept his gaze downcast as he got up and began running away from Marc's apartment as another set of helicopter parents glided by on the street.

As soon as they reached the street, however, Nathaniel was tugging Marc every which was. Evidently, when Hoverer could not grab him, he merely resorted to turning every adult he could find into one of his followers, who seemed all too eager to swoop down over them, exclaiming that they needed to get home where it was safe and stay off the streets. One got a little too close for comfort, with the rotating blades nearing to the point that Nathaniel felt the air whip by him as he ducked, all but gluing himself to the concrete before springing to his feet.

"Come on, the park!" Marc yelled, hunching down as he ran as he was a good half a head taller than was Nathaniel was. For once it seemed his short stature would be an advantage. Nathaniel nodded.

But the faster he ran, the more he worried, and the tighter the knots in his stomach became. Had he picked a bad time to come out? But how was he supposed to know his dad got fired that day if he didn't tell him? Or would his dad have reacted the same way no matter what Nathaniel did? Was Marc the problem? Could this have been avoided? Worries plagued his mind faster than he could comprehend, and before he could even begin crafting a logical explanation for one concern, another one piled atop it, leaving Nathaniel with a thumping headache. Another helicopter parent swerved out in front of them and Nathaniel jumped in fear, but held his ground, despite every instinct which told him to turn around and flee. If this area was overrun, they needed to move onwards to reach a safe location while they waited for Ladybug and Char Noir to show up. Nathaniel took a deep breath in through his nose. Of course. Ladybug and Chat Noir would fix everything. They always did. Somehow this thought quelled Nathaniel's overactive mind for at least a few moments and he lunged forward again, hauling Marc alongside him.

Marc nearly tripped on this sudden movement, but Nathaniel kept moving, wanting to get himself, and more importantly Marc, out of this mess as soon as possible.

* * *

All Marinette wanted was the occasional weekend off. But if it was not being roped into helping with her parent's bakery, doing homework for school, assisting Alya with one project or another, it was saving all of Paris from a super villain courtesy of Hawk Moth. She grit her teeth at the very thought, having not hesitated to run up to her room and transform the moment she saw the first flying, unusually colored figure outside her window and the emergency news reports popping up. Her parents had ran into their bakery to lock up, only for Hoverer, as the villain had called himself, to come barging in and somehow transform her parents to look like all of the others. Every sudden noise caused her to glance sharply towards the source, as she half expected another giant butterfly to appear out of nowhere and blow her and Chat across the street. Since they discovered Hawk Moth was no longer working alone—or perhaps never had been to begin with, her nerves had nearly been getting the best of her.

But for the time being, they seemed safe from such a fate, and Ladybug would do what she did best, save Paris, no matter how much of her own life she would have to put on hold. "They've all been turned into an army of helicopter parents! This is the exact distraction Hawk Moth loves," Ladybug exclaimed, her back pressed against Chat Noir's as she twirled her yo-yo at her side, every so often throwing it towards one of the platforms. Apparently whenever those were broken the parents were returned to normal, provided they did not get too banged up on the short fall to the ground.

"Oh, no. I do not need more helicopter parenting in my life!" Chat Noir exclaimed, extending his staff to poke at someone who was flying towards him, and only barely managing to duck before their blades could make contact with his head.

Ladybug laughed as she spun out of the way of a figure advancing towards her, causing them to careen into the streetlight which was nearby. "Aw, is Kitty kept under lock and key?"

"You have no idea."

* * *

 **A/N: and that's chapter two! We're almost getting to the action. Please let me know what you think, if you think the characters are ic or not, plot suggestions if you have any, etc. It would be much appreciated since I've never written for Miraculous before. This story is obviously going to be primarily Nath/Marc centric, but there will certainly be a few Ladybug/Marinette/Chat Noir/Adrien bits thrown in too. Couldn't have Miraculous without them, after all. Thanks for reading!**


	3. The Miraculous of the Dragon

The longer Ladybug and Chat Noir spent going after the helicopter parents, severing them from the platforms and subsequently having to catch them so as to ensure they did not encounter any sudden landings upon transforming back to normal, the more Ladybug was beginning to panic. Chat had already needed to leave and de-transform once after his ring began beeping at him. Ladybug knew she would need to leave soon if she did not want her identity revealed to all of Paris, but there were simply so many civilians flying at unsafe heights and barking orders left and right that she could hardly think. She was beginning to get a headache from all of the demands flying her way. She was merely fortunate that once she transformed from Marinette to Ladybug she could no longer feel her parents breathing down her neck, screaming for her to _keep up your grades, don't come home so late, help in the bakery, clean your room, I just want what is best for you,_ to the point of it almost becoming unnerving. Marinette did all of those things. She did not need to be reminded of such a fact. Luckily, or not, perhaps, most of those targeted were adults. However, this left quite a few kids hidden in nooks around Paris, and just from where Ladybug was standing in an intersection she could already spot at least eight people hiding from the akuma attack, two of which being her classmates under a bench, and her eyes widened as she put the pieces together. She knew the akuma victim looked familiar—it was Nathaniel's father. Vaguely she wondered what could have gone wrong, but pushed the thought aside. No matter what it was, that hardly mattered for the time being.

"M'Lady, not that I do not enjoy our alone time, but I think we might need some help!" Chat hollered, blocking a projectile with his staff and leaping backwards to her side.

"I think you're right. But who? Rena Rouge, Carapace, and Queen Bee are all gone for the weekend!"

She saw Chat's eyes go wide. "What? No way! All of them? I knew Chloe—I mean Queen Bee—had a convention or something. But Rena and Carapace, too?"

Ladybug nodded, her lips pursed together in a frown. There was a journalism and media convention in Marseille that many of her classmates had gone to over the weekend; Alya for a professional critique on the Lady Blog, Nino to shadow a production sound mixer, and Chloe to shadow an anchor because "they only need the most beautiful faces in all of Paris to deliver the news and that means me." Ladybug was so caught up in her thoughts that she very nearly did not see the hand swooping down to grab at her Miraculous as Hoverer appeared, and she had no choice but to roll out of the way.

"Why do you keep running, huh?" Chat Noir yelled after the villain who continued to gain altitude and swerve around a corner. "No response either. Cat got your tongue?"

"Not now, Kitty," Ladybug spun and rested a hand on his shoulder. "I think we might need some new partners for today, and I might have two people in mind." She nodded over Chat Noir's shoulder, who turned and spotted where Marc and Nathaniel were hiding. The black-clad superhero arched an eyebrow at Ladybug.

"You know I think you're purrfect, M'Lady, but are you sure? Neither of them have really struck me as the bravest."

"They'll pull through," Ladybug reassured. Or, at least, she hoped they would. "I know they will. I need to go do something, first. Can you take care of everything here?"

"You mean battle off the tens of helicopter parents, keep Hoverer occupied, and ensure no civilians get hurt in the process?" Chat Noir asked cheerily, before winking and latching onto Ladybug's hand so that he could kiss the back of it. "Anything for you."

* * *

Nathaniel and Marc had managed to wedge themselves under a bench in a nearby park. While it may have been a better idea for them to take shelter inside, Nathaniel was not sure where to go, especially considering Hoverer knew where both of them lived. He could not think very clearly at all, as a matter of fact. His thoughts kept swirling and he had not even realized he was latching onto Marc's wrist like a lifeline until Marc said something with a wince.

"Um. Nath. Your nails are sorta," he trailed off, and Nathaniel relaxed his grip immediately, glancing at the few angry red marks that his grip had caused. His back was beginning to ache from being hunched over in the same position for what felt like an hour but was likely only ten minutes, but he did not know what else to do. So the two stayed there, hunkering down further every time a helicopter parent glided by, yelling some variation of, "We will keep the next generation safe no matter what! Safety before caution!"

Under different circumstances, Nathaniel may have laughed at how ridiculous they sounded. Decidedly this was not Hawk Moth's best work, but it sure was annoying. At least last time Hawk Moth had attacked and somehow akumatized more than one person, the people of Paris could help. Now steadily all of the adults were becoming overprotective, controlling, zombies.

"Why is Hoverer after me? I-I thought your coming out just went poorly, that he didn't support you," Marc whispered next to him, his shoulder just barely brushing Nathaniel's own.

"He-uh." Nathaniel glanced at Marc with wide eyes, all of his words dying in his throat. What was he supposed to say? He wondered. _I told my parents I want to ask you out but my dad threw a fit. I still wanna ask you out, though, so here we are I guess?_ Of course not, because of all the ways Nathaniel had imagined confessing to Marc that he had feelings for him, in the middle of an akuma attack shoved under a grimy bench certainly was not his top choice. "I don't know," Nathaniel hissed quickly, and Marc frowned. "I mean-he's mad at me, right? Cause of my sexuality?" His hands clenched into fists at this. All he wanted was their support. Was that too much to ask? "Maybe he's after you cause he knows your my best friend and he wants to get to me." As he spoke his gaze shifted from Marc to the concrete, as his willpower began to crack.

However, this seemed to appease Marc, as he hummed and nodded, wrapping both arms around his middle protectively. "But… um. I didn't know I was your best friend," Marc said quietly, and Nathaniel's heart just about jumped into his throat and he was sure his rosy complexion matched Marc's in that moment. Nathaniel, however, luckily had enough hair to hide such a thing.

"Of course you are. I mean, I don't have a ton of friends, but I really value our relationship. Not that I would value it less if I had a lot of friends—that's—that's not what I meant. Just-you know. Us. And the comic. But not just the comic, everything. I care a lot." Nathaniel was blabbering, and worse of all he was seriously afraid that he just friendzoned Marc _hard._ He finally forced his gaze to meet Marc's, who looked to have a tiny smile on his face but it was one that did not reach his eyes.

Before Marc could respond, however, a new voice shouted nearby. "Marc! Nathaniel! Are you alright?" Ladybug glided down from a nearby rooftop and ran towards them, ushering them out of their hiding place as she glanced around rapidly. Luckily it appeared as if no helicopter parents were in sight, and Nathaniel motioned for Marc to leave first before following. He turning to Ladybug questioningly, who almost appeared to smirk at them. "Nathaniel, Marc, I need your help, so I'm giving you the Miraculous of the Dragon and the Miraculous of the Tiger."

Before Nathaniel could even comprehend what in the world this meant, Ladybug was extending two small red and black boxes towards them. Nathaniel's mouth fell open in shock. Marc took a visible step backwards. "All of Chat Noir and my allies are gone, and now that we know Hawk Moth is no longer working alone, we cannot take any unnecessary risks. Please."

"I can't fight my dad!" Nathaniel exclaimed, raising his hands as if this would somehow fend off the offered Miraculous by willpower alone.

Ladybug continued. "It sounds like he's just wanting to protect you, to help you. Maybe if he sees you-"

Something in Nathaniel twitched. "Yeah, help me by telling me to be straight. I'm not interested."

Ladybug's mouth tugged downwards into a frown and her eyes softened. "Nathaniel, I am so sorry that your dad doesn't accept you. But maybe you can change his mind? Even when he is akumatized, he wants to keep everyone safe. I think he does care about you."

"Yeah? Well I don't really care what happens to him right now. He won't accept me, that's all I need to know," Nathaniel decided, crossing his arms over his chest and angling himself away with a huff. Marc reached out for his arm faintly.

"Then help Paris, please. Chat Noir and I cannot do this alone. We don't know what else to do especially with all of these helicopter parents around causing chaos. Every time one of them detransforms we have to protect the civilian, and in that time Hoverer is brainwashing more adults," she finally admitted. "Your father should have reacted better, he should love you no matter who you are or who you want to be with, and if you don't want to reach out to him just yet that's your choice. But, please, help me save everyone else."

As Ladybug spoke, Marc wordlessly rubbed at Nathaniel's arm, and he leaned into the contact subconsciously, calming as this continued. He then glared at the offered Dragon Miraculous box for many moments before finally sighing and snatching it from Ladybug's hand. "This is for the civilians, and I guess punching my old man in the face to knock some sense into him might feel pretty good now, too."

"If you're willing to go against him, then-well, so am I," Marc declared, offering a small smile which seemed to waver as he accepted the Tiger Miraculous box.

Ladybug turned to Nathaniel first. "Go on, open it," she encouraged. Nathaniel almost wavered on his feet as he flipped open the box. He eyed the metal circlet inside carefully. It was dark, almost black, but had an unmistakable shine to it. There was a small, blank pendant on one side, and tentatively, Nathaniel lifted the metal and clasped it around his neck. It was snug but left just enough room for him to breathe easily. As soon as the clasp was secured, a small creature appeared in front of him. It was small enough where they could fit into the palm of his hand, garnet and black in color with golden eyes and various spikes atop his head. His voice was almost gravely but in a welcoming way. "Morning, Sir. I'm Zann, and I'm the kwami of Prosperity."

"A… kwami?" Nathaniel wondered aloud, transfixed on Zann as the creature grinned down at him slyly.

"Kwamis grant you abilities like Ladybug and Chat Noir. All you have to do to activate them is say scales out! Then to use your ability say ember!"

Nathaniel was visibly shaking now, because even in his wildest dreams he never would have imagined that he could be a superhero. Maybe he would help Ladybug and Chat Noir one day in a fight, but after having been akumatized himself, he had never believed this to be a luxury he was allowed. Now, however, he was about to become his own hero, what he had wanted all along.

"Um. Okay. Zann, scales out!"

A maroon glow engulfed him, gliding across his body and transforming his appearance and invigorating him. It felt as if he was running on adrenaline and the best night sleep of his life. His clothing became a garnet bodysuit with a vague shimmering image of gray scales across the surface. Without warning, Nathaniel flung himself towards a fountain to get a better look at his reflection. The necklace flashed and glowed a bright golden hue, his hands and feet were then color of stone, and the gradient shifted as it neared his middle. His hair was pulled back into a half ponytail, and was considerably darker in color. His mask matched his suit, but with the majority of it being black in color and shimmering with red scales only when the light hit it properly. Something hung from his belt, and he glanced down wildly to see a matching blade which looked to be some morphed image of a quill and a knife blended together, with a small button on the side, and he found himself picking it up and spinning it in his hands eagerly.

"Uh, Nath?" Marc was staring at something on his back, and he spun around to see a vague flicker of something which glowed like the masks of akuma victims, only in a Ruby color. He realized they were small dragon _wings_ plastered to his back, and then he could not restrain his awe.

"Okay, this is so cool!" He exclaimed with an addictive grin, leaping up in the air and spinning around. He couldn't leap as high as the others, but hoped here would be something to make up for that. Flapping his wings experimentally, Nathaniel tried to leap into the air once more only for him to accidentally bank too far to the right and hastily spin so as to not fly feet first into Marc by mistake. He offered a sheepish grin at the other boy's dash to get out of the way. "Heh, sorry!"

"What should we call you?" Ladybug asked, and Nathaniel paused.

"Uh." Marc was the writer, not him. He caught sight of his wings again, paired with the faint ember symbol which had appeared on his choker, and nodded. "Drake de Sang. Marc you go I wanna see you!"

It appeared to take Marc a few moments to wrench his attention away from Drake de Sang and towards his own unopened Miraculous. "Yeah, sure-"

"Ladybug!" Chat Noir's howl and subsequent nosedive directly into his partner interrupted Marc, as he and Nathaniel turned to glance at Ladybug and Chat Noir in a tangle of limbs on the ground. "Hoverer packs a more serious punch than I thought. Although this was not exactly how I thought I'd run into you agai-watch out!"

While Chat Noir and Ladybug went about untangling themselves, Nathaniel saw a flash of navy blue and pine movement out of the corner of his eye as Hoverer swooped over them. Nathaniel grabbed for his blade and spun, not entirely convinced he could use it against his dad directly just yet. As Hoverer neared he jumped, swiping at the rotating blades beneath his circular platform keeping him afloat. All he did was get the blade knocked from his hand and he curled his arm against his chest as he ran to pick it up.

As soon as he had retrieved the weapon and returned it to its spot on his belt, he turned around to the sound of Marc gasping as Hoverer rushed him, wrapped an arm around his middle, and hauled him upwards into the sky, seemingly frozen in fright, his Miraculous Box still clutched tightly in his hand. "Marc!" He yelled, setting his jaw as he leapt into the air and unfurrowed his wings behind him. Flapping once, twice, he dove after the pair, but was quickly intercepted by a helicopter parent and he swerved around them barely.

"Nath, help!" Marc' startled voice echoed in his ears, and Nath turned, pulling his wings tightly against himself and dropping, but unfolding them a moment later and ducking beneath a second obstacle.

"We're right behind you, Drake de Sang!" Ladybug shouted, the sounds of her yo-yo string scraping against the edges of rooftops fading behind Drake as he flew. Chat Noir's staff then snapped upwards and caught one of the parents rotating blades and the person morphed back to normal just in time for Ladybug to catch them. Drake breathed a sigh of relief and urged himself to keep going. He had to find Marc.

* * *

 **A/N: Disclaimer that I do not speak any French, so I hope Nathaniel's superhero name is not too off. I tried my best. Also, I had to make up the power behind the new miraculous, as well as the kwami's, since all I could find were pictures of them and not their names. So, Zann is my little mischievous kwami creation and I hope you like him. These chapters also seem to be getting longer, and now we can see one of the boys in their superhero form! Thanks for reading!**


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